Translation brings transition

Latinate revision helps parishioners 'slow down'

Eucharistic Minister Janie Hale, second from right, gives communion to attendants during a Liturgy of the Hours evening service inside the Adoration Chapel at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral. The Roman Catholic Church made changes to the Roman Missal for English Mass.

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English-speaking worshipers participating in the Roman Catholic Mass have some new words to learn. The Church introduced a new translation of the English Mass in services last November on the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church’s liturgical calendar.

The changes are evident from the greeting at the beginning of the service. The celebrant begins by addressing the congregation with “The Lord be with you.” The old response, “And also with you,” has been replaced with “And with your spirit.”

“I think our parishioners are adjusting rather well,” said Monsignor Joseph Tash of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Amarillo. “It’s mostly just a word here, a word there.”

The new Mass reflects Rome’s desire to have the English Mass conform more accurately to the Latin in the Roman Missal, the book containing the liturgical texts used in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. A U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops document describes the new English version as “a new way of translating that is more capable of conveying the meaning, beauty and form of the ancient Latin prayers.”

“As a lifelong Catholic, I love the new translation,” said Joshua Raef, who attends St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Amarillo. “The new words also force me to think and pay attention to the meaning of the words because they are so elevated.”

That sentiment also was expressed to the Rev. Tony Neusch, who administers St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Shamrock and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Wellington.

“I’ve heard comments from people saying that it helped them pray, because they have to slow down,” Neusch said.

The newest Roman Missal is the third revision since the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meeting that brought vast changes to the Church. Perhaps the greatest liturgical change was the introduction of the Mass conducted in the vernacular, or language of the local people, instead of Latin. The first Roman Missal including an English Mass appeared in 1969. A second revision was published in 1975, though the English Mass remained essentially the same in that version.

The first English translation reflected a philosophy of “dynamic equivalence,” according to Linda Krehmeyer, director of the office of worship for the Diocese of Santa Fe. That approach emphasized the thought behind the original more than the actual words, Krehmeyer said. The new translation uses “formal equivalence,” which aims to include all of the “key words” from the original Latin, she said.

That fidelity to Latin shows up in the Nicene Creed, where “one in Being with the Father” has become “consubstantial with the Father.” The original Latin is “consubstantialem Patri.”

“There are people who feel that the language is awkward,” said Krehmeyer. “It’s more formal. ... There’s been a broad spectrum of reaction. In general, people have not found the transition difficult.”

Some U.S. Catholics who find the new translation unwelcome have rallied around a Seattle-based website, whatifwejustsaidwait.org, critical of the new English Mass.

Spanish-speaking Catholics might wonder what all the fuss is about. The Spanish Mass has been closer to the Latin all along.

“In Spanish-speaking communities, we’ve been saying it this way the whole time,” said Wayne Romo, director of ministry at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. Romo said the new Roman Missal contains no significant changes to the Spanish version of the Mass.

Students at St. Mary’s, the largest Catholic university in Texas, have mostly welcomed the new Mass, Romo said.

“I would describe the mood at St. Mary’s as having settled in with the changes. We’re comfortable with the changes,” Romo said.

The biggest challenges could be for those leading the service.

“I’ve told a few people, for you, this is minor. For priests, it’s major,” said Tash. The changes include revisions to the rubrics, the instructions for those celebrating the Mass. The rubrics appear in red print, while the spoken words appear in black.

Neusch said he’s had to re-orient himself to his place in the text a couple of times.

“It’s just growing pains,” Neusch said. “As best as I can tell, the new Mass has been received very well.”